Monday, April 08, 2002

Surely this calls for more pharmacology!

Umm...

People sure can be silly.

At a Singapore mental health web site, pretty much any American who bothers to answer the sex addiction questions will bang into the treatment category. It is also amusing to compare and contrast the different questions for men and women.

Even poor folk who love to surf are not immune from diagnosis -- web addiction -- what a concept. I can't eat. I can't sleep. My index finger compulsively double clicks of its own accord.

Further confirmation that the mental health industry is just that -- an industry.

posted by Bohica at 7:32 PM

Not only did I inhale -- I held it an extra long time.

You can't make stuff like this up:

The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws is launching a $500,000 ad campaign featuring a quote from NY City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, when asked if he had ever smoked marijuana, declaring: "You bet I did. And I enjoyed it."

Bloomberg evidently said this before he was elected and his resolve to continue arresting people for smoking weed now seems hypocritical. But then again, he is a politician. Its his job to be a hypocrite.

posted by Bohica at 4:34 PM

The American Dream is very twisted

The best opinion piece I have seen all day.

Stick with it. It may surprise you.

posted by Bohica at 3:12 PM

I luv funnies

The way cool comic strip of the day.

All of sinfest is worthy.

posted by Bohica at 1:51 PM

Take your tradition and stick it in the chapel.

The lunchtime USNA prayer may finally be going the way of the dodo.

I vaguely remember this from my days in Annapolis. A chaplain or one of the stripers at the anchor would say a prayer after the daily announcements. As an atheist, I saw it as just another instance of majority conformity rule in an institution that was proud of senseless traditions.

Another fine example of senseless tradition are the formal dress parades. Despite the majority of us being destined for life on ships where the ability to march with rifles is of questionable value, the members of the Brigade -- not lucky enough to be varsity athletes in season or members of the football team -- would practice five to six hours a week for these silly events. The parades themselves were tortuous affairs in full dress blues.

I am short -- a sandblower in the academy lexicon -- and was always in the last row of my company's formation. From there I would watch the midshipmen who locked their knees collapse in the heat. There was not much else to do.

I remember one time a guy collapsed after we'd fixed bayonets and ended up with the edge slicing into his neck as he went down. He was ultimately ok, but it could have been much worse. Looking at this month's events, the practise parade schedule is as arduous as ever.

Anyway -- back to the lunchtime prayer. I remember enormous pressure there when I was a plebe to attend chapel. The upperclassmen frowned on those who did not.

So for all those mids who twiddle their thumbs or glance about surreptitiously to see if their lack of fervor is noticed -- release from at least one senseless and unconstitutional tradition is on its way.

posted by Bohica at 12:51 PM

Little boy, you're going to Hell!

A sad, sad day indeed.

Not only the doom and gloom over Penthouse, but now this.

Kenny, gone forever. You Bastards!

posted by Bohica at 12:21 PM

Resurrecting the Biological Clock

*sigh*

A rather depressing set of stories about women, aging and fertility at Time.com.

I am 31 -- so right at the edge of the slippery slope of "no chance in hell" of making babies with my ovum unless I get real busy real quick.

Like many of the women profiled by economist Sylvia Ann Hewlett in her book, Creating a Life: Professional Women and the Quest for Children -- which is dealt with extensively by the Time spread -- I went off to college, worked very hard to establish a career, mushed through grad school and law school, and thought pregnancy would have been nothing but a life stopper during the process.

Unlike many of the women she profiles, I am merely at the edge of the slippery slope and a member of the target audience she and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine are hoping to warn.

Breed, breed! Breed now -- before it is too late!

Not likely.

Biological children have never been an ambition of mine. Dynastic urges and the resulting infants are nothing but trouble.

Adoption is a better choice.

I use my dog as an illustrative example. He was between two and three years old when he joined the household. I found him in a rescue situation and in a way we choose each other. Not that it wasn't rocky to begin with as most close relationships are, but since he was an older animal to start -- he never required the massive attention of a puppy and was trainable from the get go. Plus I have the bonus of knowing his life is very good now, when before it was abusive.

So adopting an older child whose chance of finding a good home was slim has always been my game plan for dealing with any maternal urges that might materialize in my future.

Then the Brits came up with an alternative that preserves the ability to change my mind, or not as I choose. True reproductive freedom that eliminates the incessant ticking of Hewlitt and her ilk.

What could this be? Freezing an ovary -- cold storage of eggs -- much like the bankability sperm has enjoyed.

Of course, if you read to the end of the BBC article, a working group is being formed to study the ethics of allowing women to use this process to delay pregnancy. Funny, but I don't recall any ethical quandary or furor over frozen spunk.

posted by Bohica at 10:13 AM

The end of an era.

I hope the NY Times is wrong and Penthouse does not go down.

I always thought Penthouse was superior to Playboy -- admittedly its been ten years since I've looked at one -- but it always seemed to me Penthouse was the more honest of the two.

It made no bones (*heh*) about being a smut mag, while Playboy has always tried to hide its libidinous porn nature behind pseudo intellectual articles.

Plus the Penthouse Forum was always really hot.

posted by Bohica at 8:28 AM

Pink Ghetto Blues

Depressing figures about teacher salary increases in the 90s.

And people wonder why there is a shortage of educators.

Plus this bit on future nurse shortages -- partly attributed to poor pay.

Could these phenomena be related? Is it mere coincidence that these professions were the pink ghettos for educated women who wanted careers in the 1900s?

Why am I not surprised there are shortages now? Women have learned they can earn more and be treated with more respect in workplaces that are not so traditionally female. Go figure.

A proposal in the UK to limit female medical school admissions, however, is not the way to deal with projected shortages in a profession.

posted by Bohica at 8:05 AM

The perfect defense

Maybe this Stanford study can explain the sexual crimes of these religious and possibly very sleepy priests that are generating nausiating amounts of headlines.

Evidently they have identified an illness that "drives people to moan, masturbate, and commit violent sexual acts, literally, in their sleep."

"Other patients, in addition to being a pest to their bed buddies, were described as a threat to themselves. These patients suffered repeated episodes of masturbation, some so violent that they awoke with morning bruises and soreness."

"A third group of patients were not only disruptive, but dangerous. The bed partners of these patients describe being held down, cursed at, and feeling "raped" by the one they love. Many sustained cuts and bruises. One woman reports being sexually assaulted by her husband at least once every 15 days in his sleep for 12 years."

posted by Bohica at 7:56 AM

Religions Sucks... and Blows

It seems Mormon youth are also not safe from the advances of lecherous church elders.

But then of course even the Taliban were in on the pederast action.

Maybe there should be a minimum age requirement for participation in religion. No church allowed until you reach the age of consent.

posted by Bohica at 1:06 AM

Uthant Rules

And now for something completely different, the very naughty and irreverent Uthant on the Catholic sex scandals.

Uthant has always impressed me as a writer who does not espouse the opinions he posts -- merely spouting outrageous thoughts with dark hilarity as an amusing shock tactic.

My mother is currently locked in debate with my father and older brother over these scandals. Older bro and dad's position being it is all lies -- in essence a smear campaign against the Church. Mom thinks they are both in severe denial.

I sent her both the SA Express link and the one to Uthant. Yes, I sent my mom a column that describes pounding altar boy heinie in an explicit manner. She is an adult and can handle reality -- even if it is raunchy.

posted by Bohica at 12:36 AM